Is Apple Getting Ready to Release a New Apple TV?
Apple TV?" >Best Buy had the Apple TV in stock back in December, but recently, the company pulled the set-top box from virtual store shelves. Searching for the Apple TV on Best Buy’s website nets no results.
So what does this mean? Usually when Apple products disappear from store shelves, it’s a sure sign of an upcoming refresh.
AppleInsider got in touch with Best Buy’s sales division, and though they weren’t able to say exactly when the Apple TV had been removed form the website, he did say that it didn’t look like the device was going to be restocked.
The Apple TV experienced a jump in sales with the release of the second-generation version in 2010, according to CEO Tim Cook, it is still bringing in just a fraction of the revenue generated by the iPhone, iPad, and Mac with 1.4 million Apple TVs sold during the holiday season.
The company has thus far kept it’s hobby going, and many have speculated that it will eventually develop into an entire Apple-branded television at some point in the near future.
To further fuel Apple iTV rumors, DigiTimes recently announced that LED chipmaker Genesis Photonics has entered Apple’s supply chain, supplying LED chips to Sharp for LED-backlight applications. Of course, DigiTimes is rarely a reliable source.
Apple’s recent announcement of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion included information about wireless streaming from Macs to TVs via the Apple TV with AirPlay Mirroring for Mac, so it’s clear the company isn’t shelving the product. It’s likely that because of upcoming high resolution displays for iPads and MacBooks, Apple is upgrading the Apple TV so it will support a maximum of 1080p instead of 720p.
It’s unknown what kind of hardware an upgraded Apple TV set-top box will sport, but it could come with the same A6 processor that’s featured in the iPad 3. As for a release, well, the product is already disappearing from store shelves, so could a March release alongside the iPad 3 be in the works?